Happy Birthday Sesame Street!

Today is Sesame Street's 40th birthday! Google has a special front page image for the show and I automatically thought back to my dad's favorite story about me as a kid.

We'd gone to visit my sister who lived in Chicago. I was about 6 years old, but she was quite a bit older than me and had children of her own. They youngest was just old enough to start talking gibberish with a good dose of the occasional real word thrown in.

The kid and I played together around the house as only kids can and my dad came in the room as we were "talking" together - except it was all nonsense. He asked me what we were talking about since the toddler didn't make sense. I apparently told him, "She's speaking Spanish. I learned it on Sesame Street so I can understand."

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I was truly a Mr. Rogers Neighborhood kid, though I watched Sesame Street, and have a deep love of Muppets in general - The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, Sesame Street, etc. But my *least* favorite character on Sesame Street, and a story my mom likes to tell to this day, is how utterly terrified I was of The Count. Not sure if it was the laugh, or the thunder and lightening that always accompanied him, but I cried every time he hit the screen.

I wore out a cassette tape of the rubber ducky song as a kid. I love Oscar the Grouch and Slimy, and Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster, and I like Snuffleupagus, too. I didn't watch it that often as a kid, but enjoyed it when I did.

I watched Sesame Street with Matthew when he was a little boy. I loved seeing Buffy St. Marie on the show with her son Cody - she was one of my favorite folksingers! We bought Matthew an Ernie doll which he used to carry around a lot. Matthew also enjoyed Fraggle Rock and The Muppet Show.

I loved the special guests especially the ones who sang opera. I always loved opera even when I was small so if they had Beverly Sills on I watched. I generally liked all of the muppets but Burt and Ernie reminded me a bit of my uncles and ernie was my favorite.

My favorite bit was when Bert and Ernie sang the song "Things that I Remember" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMGZzhPJ008) together. But I also credit Sesame Street for my love of learning languages - I loved the inclusion of both Spanish and American Sign Language, and for positively portraying diversity to this gal who grew up in the very bigoted South in the 70s and 80s. To this day, I STILL enjoy watching Sesame Street from time to time. It's such a positive example of learning and cooperation and that meant a lot to me when I was growing up surrounded by so much hate.

Why am I sitting her with happy tears in my eyes, having watched that clip? Sesame Street appeared on the small screen when I was 17 years old. Despite that fact, I was always delighted with the music from the show and all the marvelous learning opportunities it provided for children AND ADULTS! Happy 40th, Sesame Street! May you continue for many, many more generations!